"The hour has come. We must go to the Fu family ancestral grounds."
"Oh."
Qingque nodded, ready to follow. Fu Xuan took the purple lilies and placed them in her room, then led Qingque by the hand toward the family's sacred grounds.
Half an hour later, they arrived.
A stele of jade stood before them—akin to the Grand Divination Matrix of Prescience back at the Commission, but different. One was a miracle granted by Nous, the Aeon of Erudition. The other was the accumulated legacy of a noble family, built generation by generation over ten thousand years.
Qingque left the wild goose at the ancestral grounds, completing the first of the six rites: the proposal. Then, with ease, she solved the test left by the Fu ancestors. They, too, gave their silent assent.
In that instant, the history of the Fu family flashed through her mind.
They had once been one of the most illustrious houses in the Yuque—perhaps in all the Xianzhou. From the earliest days, when they served as diviners to the medicinal officers, through the Reignbow Arbiter's age, down to the present—nearly ten thousand years. Beyond that, there were older records, though they had long been sealed away from knowledge.
The Fu family had produced three Xianzhou generals. Over a dozen Six Edicts. Some even whispered that the legendary Hua had once been a Fu.
Qingque understood now. The Fu family were not merely wealthy; they were history itself.
But by Fu Xuan's generation, their numbers had dwindled. Her peers were ordinary diviners at best. Fu Xuan alone stood out among the young—the only one with a real chance of becoming a new Arbiter-General.
No wonder the elders looked at her with such hostility. They thought she would take Fu Xuan's place as the next Luofu General. And she had refused to marry into the family. And they had never accepted a union like this.
Fu Qing, seated at the head of the family, sighed. Qingque had solved the ancestors' test with ease. They had accepted her.
"My child," he said, his tone noticeably warmer than before, "the first rite is complete. The ancestors have given their blessing. Will you continue with the remaining rites?"
Qingque blinked. What happened to the cold disdain? The barely concealed contempt?
Before she could think too hard, Fu Xuan pulled her forward. "The second rite. Your name and birth."
Qingque stepped up to the jade stele and inscribed her birth year, month, and day. Fu Xuan did the same beside her.
The stele glowed with prismatic light.
Fu Xuan's elements: three metal, two fire, one water, two earth. She lacked wood.
Qingque's: three wood, two fire, one water, two earth. She lacked metal.
Twelve characters blazed on the stele: "Heaven-made, earth-crafted. Their elements complete each other. A match blessed by fate."
The elders stared. Their elemental lacks were so perfectly aligned; it seemed almost like destiny.
Qingque let out a rueful laugh. "Years ago, I meant to join the Earthly Affairs Commission. But I was late for the exam—lost track of time playing jade tiles. I had to sit for the Divination Commission's test instead. And there she was, proctoring it."
Fu Xuan spoke softly. "My late master, Jingtian, made two prophecies for me."
"First, that he would pass in my arms."
"Second, that I would find the future I sought on the Xianzhou Luofu. It seems both are coming true."
(A/N: During the Third Abundance War, when the Xianzhou was on the brink of defeat, Fu Xuan proposed using the Sky-Watching Mirror to summon the Reignbow Arbiter's arrows. Her master, Jingtian, and General Yueyu of the Yaoqing held the line at the mirror, calling down the miracle and dying with the Abundance remnants.)
The elders exchanged glances. Fu Qing inclined his head. "The second and third rites are complete. The fourth, then."
Qingque leaned close to Fu Xuan and whispered, "Grand Diviner, what's the fourth rite again? I forgot."
Fu Xuan's brow tightened. This. She remembers everything about jade tiles, but this?
Still, she kept her voice low for Qingque's sake. "The fourth rite is the betrothal gifts. Presentation of the bride price."
Qingque's face lit up. She sent her coordinates to a flock of messenger birds. Moments later, they arrived, laden with gifts and tokens.
Fu Qing's face turned stone-gray. The elders glared, barely restrained fury in their eyes.
Qingque's smile faltered. She whispered again, "Are they angry because my gifts are too modest? This is everything my father and I have saved over the years."
Fu Xuan shot her a look. The gifts were nothing to a family like the Fus. The offense was different—she had casually marked the ancestral grounds with coordinates, as if they were any street corner. For any other Fu descendant, that would mean family discipline at best and the Hall of Karma at worst.
But the stele—the ancestors themselves—had not punished her.
Fu Xuan exhaled. "My dowry will be thirty times your bride price, Qingque. I will provide for you."
Qingque's eyes went wide. That kind of deal? She might never need to work again.
But Fu Qing and the elders were still watching. She kept her smile under control.
Fu Qing waved a hand. "The ancestors have not objected. Let us proceed to the fifth rite."
Qingque remembered this one. She stepped forward and inscribed her request on the stele—a request for an auspicious date.
Minutes passed. The answer came: the same one Fu Xuan had once divined. The thirteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, at the hour of Wu.
"Return and prepare. In three days, you will come to welcome Fu Xuan. Do you object?"
Qingque shook her head, grinning. "No objections. Do any of you want to try a game of jade tiles?"
Fu Qing pressed a hand to his chest. The room seemed to spin. He could not look at his future daughter-in-law another moment.
"Go. Come back in three days for Fu Xuan."